As the number and nature of cyber threats grows increasingly day by day, organizations have opened up to the threat caused by cyber attacks. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is better known as NATO, recognized cyberspace as a warfare domain in 2016, illustrating its growing importance in today’s world.

While most organizations are waking up to this threat and are trying to implement cybersecurity solutions, some still remain in a state of flux, rendering them at severe risk. The main issue seems to be the costs involved of a proper cybersecurity solution. Many organizational heads actually still wonder if expenditure on a cybersecurity solution is really justified. Some of the main reasons why this gap remains are because of:

1. Apathy towards the cause

Even though most organizations are largely dependent on the cyber world, there is a false sense of overconfidence that they are not at risk. The thinking goes that cyber attacks or breaches only happen at big companies and no one will target a smaller company as there is nothing of importance.

2. The dynamic nature of cyber crime

The one factor that makes cyber attacks so unfailingly dangerous is its fluid nature. The vectors of attack, the technologies involved, the techniques involved, the information sought – it all keeps changing at a frenetic range, making organizations feel powerless to keep up. Rather than trying to keep up, they just give up, leaving themselves at the mercy of cyber criminals.

3. Unneeded expenditure

While this thought is changing, it still exists in some organizations where cybersecurity is an alien term. It is regarded as an unneeded expenditure which takes away from the bottom line and does not contribute to profits.

If any of the above sound familiar, brace yourself. Organizations underestimating cybersecurity have no idea how much it can cost them. According to a recent survey, a global cyber attack could result in damages of as much as a staggering $121.4 billion in an extreme event, which is comparable to the economic losses caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. If the cost of cybersecurity still seems like a better option, consider the following ways in which cyber attacks could hurt your organization:

4. The Economic Cost

Even an incomplete cyber breach could leave a severe economic impact on an organization. Damages could range from:

Confidential information being leaked to criminals which could be used to blackmail the company

Bank or card details being stolen, leading to an organization’s entire financial status being at the risk of jeopardy

Once a cyber attack hits, all system goes for a toss. The toll is both mental and physical. Employees and company heads are under severe stress, trying to resolve the issue. At times, chaos breaks out, making the situation worse, if there is no proper procedure to be done. Repair costs can be massive because they include investigation, recovery, patching loopholes, setting a new process and ensuring compliance.

6. Damage to reputation

Success cyber attacks are notoriously bad for the reputation of an organization. It also affects the brand image. It can lead to an erosion of the trust clients can have in an organization. The effects of this hit on the brand could be a loss of customers, a dip in sales and worse, a reduction in profits. It could affect the relationships an organization has with its investors or with partners.

Hence it is clear that organizations must invest in a strong cybersecurity solution to stay safe in this digital world. Seqrite’s Endpoint Security (EPS) which combines advanced technologies like Anti Ransomware, Web Filtering, Advanced Device Control to protect networks from advanced threats can be a great investment in this regard.